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This is mainly directed at Quicksilver and other auto bias tube amp users interested in trying the KT66.
I ordered a matched quad of both as these tubes have had a reputation for excellent sonics.
The Saratov (no brand name on tubes) apparently pre-dates the New Sensor takeover and the Sino is a an older design Shuguang, but I might be wrong.
Both were the same price which makes direct comparisons fair.
Both are huge tubes and are slightly larger than most KT88s. The comparison stops there however.
The Saratov KT66 glass is literally like fine crystal. Perfectly transparent, no scuffs or debris melted in and very thick. The Sino glass is very thin, scuffed and contains bubbles and debris.
The biggest differences are inside. The Saratov uses very heavy leads in a straight row which are in turn welded to thick pin wires. The Sino leads are very thin and not arrayed in a straight line, resulting in lots of bends. The Saratov pins were smoother and superior to the Sino's as well.
One final observation. The Sinos were quite dirty as new tubes go, especially around the pins on the base.
I'll report on how they both sound shortly.
doggy
Follow Ups:
Doggy
Your Saratov tubes are KT66HPs and they are good to 550v where the sinos are good to 450v. The Saratov was designed by aspen pitman and company and its made with groove tubes tooling in the saratov plant.
When Mike Matthews decided he wanted to make a version of the Tungsol kt66,they ceased production of the KT66HP and personally it looks almost identical to a clear bottle genelex other than the ring getters which are solid on the Saratovs.I asked Myles at Groove tubes if they would be making the kt66hp again and he said NO very abruptly like they were upset because that was a big seller for them.I was told a couple months ago they were in talks with shuguang or the remains of EI to possibly tool up to make that tube again..I hope they do as its a nice tube.
Wow Mike! How'd you know all that? You are amazing!
My instincts told me the KT66HP was a special tube. It's built like an old style tube with all of the internal leads in a nice straight row across. It has very thick welded terminations inside and very thick glass. It's not at all like any of my other power tubes and I have 25 or so different quads.
Thanks for responding Mike.
Ill tell you Doggy..I own like 90 plus tube amps all vintage but 3 of them and I bought them over the last 30 years for when you could go to garage sales and pick them up for 5 to 50 dollars each in most cases..Many are duplicates like dyna mk3s and integrateds as well as macs and heaths and citations etc but I only have so many genelex kt88s and kt66s and RCA 6l6gc black plates and I thought gee mikey,you better find another alternative if you want to keep these amps all running when you go to your grave.
I started to realize when I would take new old stock mullard el34s or gene kt88s out of the box,they wouldnt sound as good as my old half used up tubes of the same brand.
Thats what got me investigating why and I started buying tubes that had the claim to be identical copies and you have to admit,the kt66HP is about the cloest I have seen to an identical copy of the original clear bottle genelex. You hit on the head with the thick support rods and the structure and its sound lived up to its name.
What I like about groove tubes is,they have this distortion rating and curve of operation of each tube with a numerical system and it makes one hell of a difference as far as getting the right tubes for hifi amps.I have found major differences when I use a 5 rating tube in my heath w5ms as opposed to a 2 or a 7 rating.
I used to buy a lot of untested bulk tubes from Groove tubes also..They used to have a box of 50 untested bulk but brand new of the KT66hp for 450 dollars.
If you like those tubes you may be able to contact GT and they may have a few quads left.
Yeah I scored a lot of vintage at good prices too. Most were from yard/garage sales. That's harder to do now that everyone thinks selling on ebay will make them rich. I think a lot of the vintage is gone for good or rusting out in a garage or basement somewhere. The ones on ebay look pretty rough usually.
I grew up in Portland Maine. I remember walking to school in the '60s. Sometimes on trash day there would be an old tube "thing" sitting on a trash can, either to hold the cover on or because it did not fit. My pals and I would pull the tubes and throw them up in the air. Then they smashed on the pavement. I'll burn in hell for that one.
I bought three sets of the KT66 "HP" because I don't think any of the new ones, such as the New Sensor attempts will touch it. It looks bulletproof with the very thick, pure glass and the heavy wires, etc.
Thanks for the info too.
I run that tube in a 5 I think in my very most tone GIANT..A Whitney DV-66. You would have to hear this guitar amp to believe..a pedal on this one is a SIN..
Yes your probably right but I heard reports that the tungsol kt66 is very good but its extremely expensive.Now that looks like one of its own..You are correct in that the kt66hp is built like a brick shit house and even the glass on the Russian and Checzk tubes seem like a winshield on your car.
I also wanted to clarify from my last post about my NOS genelex and mullards and RCA black plates not sounding as good as older used up ones.This is only until the new old stock tubes get broken in themselves and then they take off and sound superb.
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